11 November 2014

On the American political discourse: the poisonous bitterness of the losers

Disclaimer: the author of this post is:

  1. Not an American citizen
  2. Not affiliated with any political party in USA
  3. Isn't invested, directly or indirectly, in a political candidate of any kind in USA (or any other country, for that matter)
  4. Doesn't understand most of internal political mechanisms, laws, rules and regulations of USA, although sometimes shows some limited interest in such, like in case of this here post 
  5. The author's membership in a certain group of very nice Republicans (and Democrats, I haste to add) that calls itself Watchers of Weasels Council may explain why Democrats are to be the subject of this post, but the turn of Republicans is to come some time later - as sure as taxes
The midterm elections in USA resulted in a series of victories of Republican candidates and, as expected, in some bitterness in the ranks of Democrats' supporters. The bitterness, in its less vulgar form, was artfully expressed by a certain Nobel laureate:
The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet midterms to men of understanding. Or as I put it on the eve of another Republican Party sweep, politics determines who has the power, not who has the truth. Still, it’s not often that a party that is so wrong about so much does as well as Republicans did on Tuesday.
It is fairly easy to see in this quote the bitterness, it is easy to see the highbrow contempt of political rival. What you wouldn't be able to see in it is an itty bitty drop of "mea culpa". Which could be said with a great deal of confidence about the post-elections speech by the POTUS as well, by the way. But let's leave incrimination and the whole issue of culpability in the failure out of this post and concentrate instead on the extreme ways some people express their bitterness.

A comparatively mild example of blaming the voter first:


Obviously it's written by a Democrats' supporter that was seriously embittered. Just one example: blaming the 9/11 terrorism atrocity - that took a heck of a long time to prepare - on Bush, while it happened a short while into his first term, is less than ingenious - it is absurd and vile.

You may have noticed the thinly veiled hints on voters' insufficient mental prowess in this example of bitterness. Here is a more direct one.
Appearing as a panelist on the November 6 Hardball, liberal talk show host Joe Madison offered his assessment for why Democrats lost the 2014 midterms: Liberals, being the intellectuals they are, talk above the heads of the average voter, rather than communicating their ideas in an accessible manner for the layman to understand. They need to "put it where the goats can get it," as Madison's grandfather would say.
Of course, if the leaders of the Democrats speak only to the intellectual elite, the disdain that you can detect in all of the above is easier to explain. Who knew...

And some of the losers are even less patient than the above quoted thinker and express their opinion of the political opponents (and/or the voters) in a more direct fashion:
Democrat State Representative Senfronia Thompson had this to say about the results.
"Ignorance will not prevail," Thompson said while watching returns from the party's Harris County headquarters. "I am hoping the public will wake up and see that stupid does not work."
Now we can proceed to some visual aids that present some more extreme examples of that bitterness, like this:
(As far as I know, this cartoon has appeared first in Daily Kos - it spreads like fire, obviously Democrats are loving it for some reason). Looking at this one, I couldn't avoid thinking that its creator might have saved a lot of time by reducing it to two rows of text:

1. Democrats = GOOD
2. Republicans = BAD

I hope that the gist of my opinion of the cartoon is clear: it's a very very bitter - and a very very stupid one. Treating its reader (viewer in this case) as a retard that can't really have his/her own opinion and knowledge of anything. So it is Republicans that put E-coli in your burger, spy on your computers, use your tax money to give you benefits (sic!) etc. Oh boy, oh boy - I would like to have a glimpse into the mind of the author of that cartoon. Actually, scratch it - dark, damp and empty spaces are not my favorite pastime...

And now to another, almost ultimate example of contempt and, possibly, hate of the "other" (even if that other is one's fellow American):


Thankfully, I don't have a horse or a dog or any other animal in that race. Otherwise I would have used some choice words I do know - but, in my humble, the author of this picture is a pathetic little wanker, and it would have been a waste of time to address him/her. Only one correction (thanks to Rob): even the map that character used is a wrong one, here is the map:
The only states that still have Democrat controlled state legislatures are the states of Oregon, Hawaii, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Apparently 'Dumbfuckistan' is a lot bigger than the creator of that silly map thought.
However, as an illustration of the trend it was useful, and let's leave it at that. To proceed to what I would classify as an ultimate example. That is, if I wasn't careful enough, knowing that there is no bottom in this business. Because people will get to what you thought was the bottom and then start digging diligently:

Since Daily Kos was mentioned, here is a snippet from this august mouthpiece of the especially rabid left:
On a scale of one to 10, with one being the Super Bowl, and 10 being the Holocaust, this week's midterm elections went past 11! (PM EST).
And the picture that accompanies this text:

Lovely, ain't it?

Not having a horse in the race, I still have to make a statement: I think that a party with this kind of attitude richly deserves a fairly long period in the wilderness of being a minority and must get a long enough time-out to think humble and to think different - before it is allowed back. The hole Democrats dug for themselves is fairly deep this time.


***

As for Republicans' happiness with the results - listen to what Sarah P. says:
“Now, new Republican Congressional majority in the House and Senate, please realize that Americans were not necessarily voting FOR any party; they were voting AGAINST the continued dysfunction and corruption in D.C.,” the former vice presidential candidate wrote in a post on Facebook.

Just like the Democrats got “mauled” on Tuesday, Palin warned the same thing could happen to the GOP next time around.
Yep...

Update: It may be educational to read the two comments to this post by AKUS. Apparently Democratic supporter with some limited scope of vision, whose response is rather a knee-jerk. Confirming what is said in this post, unfortunately.

16 comments:

Sennacherib said...

I think Churchill said "Politics is the art of predicting what will happen tomorrow, next month, next year, and then explaining why it didn't happen." When you have a group who hold their political belief's to be a type of religion, there will never be an admission of fault when there is a set back, ever.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

At least one could expect that group to hold their tongues in check, instead of showing the kind of behavior that by rights should repel the voters. Well, I know that public memory is a fickle thing. Still...

Dick Stanley said...

Oh, boo hoo, the Progs are bitter. Cry me a river. The real problem for the Progs is they have had the benefit of the media's caresses for decades now. They believe their own press. Fatal mistake. The Reps are used to being shite upon by the alphabet networks and the dying newspapers. So they take nothing for granted. Now if it only turns out that more than 50 percent of the elected Reps are not RINOs and thieves, this may turn out pretty well.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Ehehe... why does this pessimist have doubts about that?

Sennacherib said...

"They believe their own press." Exactly. After decades of preaching against "The Man" they have become the "Man" and don't even know it.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

True.

Dick Stanley said...

Pessimism was a survival tactic growing up in the Soviet Union?

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Possibly. If you think about it, a pessimist can't lose no matter what happens. Something bad - a pessimist was ready for it. Something good - a pleasant surprise. Etc.

AKUS said...

The piece itself is so biased and ridiculous that it makes a mockery of any analysis of what really happened.

It is also totally over the top - the margins of victory
were in many cases 1 or 2 percent, and will almost certainly be reversed in a big way in 2 years when greater numbers of voters, specially minorities, come out to vote.

The simple fact is that almost every liberal ballot
proposal was voted affirmatively by overwhelming numbers of voters, who then turned around and voted for people who actually stand for exactly the opposite point of view

As the author says, and proves. he/she:

4. Doesn't understand most of internal political mechanisms, laws, rules and regulations of USA, although sometimes shows some limited interest in such, like in case of this here post

AKUS said...

The Republicans narrowly won. In most “battleground” races, the split was
something like 48%/49%.


Message to Democrats:



5% more of your voters coming to the polls would have given you the seats
you needed.




But you did everything in your power to make sure they did not understand
what you have accomplished since banishing the Bush/McCain/Palin horror show to
the nether world where it so richly deserves to be.




You tried to out-Republican the Republicans, and deserved to lose. Its is a
miracle you did not lose even worse.




You might have won an enormous victory if you had stood up for what you
believe, not thrown your President under the bus, and pointed out over and over
the enormous accomplishments of the last 6 years:






Saved the US (and the world) from total financial meltdown after the 2008
financial crisis



Brought unemployment down from over 10% (probably more like 15%) to below
6%



Saw wage increases for the first time in almost a decade



Instituted the ACA which gave
millions of uninsured the opportunity to purchase healthcare




Allowed parents to keep their children on their work-provided healthcare
plan to age 26



Created the only growing Western economy, with GDP growing slowly, its
true, but growing



Overturned DOMA



Are working on creating a path to citizenship for millions of illegal
immigrants




You
were fools who deserved to lose.




But
one thing is in your favor - the demographics of the States are changing
rapidly, and if the voter turnout is large in 2016, you will retake the Senate ,
probably the Presidency, and 4 years later, the House.




Despite
yourselves.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Hm... I wonder, AKUS, whether you have got the drift of that post at all. I guess not, since you decided that it is celebrating the victory by Republicans.O analyzing (what really happened). And also that the author is interested in the info you so selflessly provided.

Reading comprehension issues, Sir(Madam)?

If you are a Democrat, your response here doesn't do any favors to the intellectual image some Democrats decided is cornered by their party members and supporters.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

"You were fools who deserved to lose."

More proof, AKUS, that you lack reading comprehension. You just proved again that my post is valid.

Bleh...

Dick Stanley said...

Democrat and Intellectual is like oil and water. Besides, his/her stats are faulty. (Big surprise.) For instance, here in Austin, where the lefties stand out because they are the loudest, the lefty light rail issue (more taxes for dubious ridership) went down decisively.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

I see you are not very impressed by AKUS' oratory, Dick ;-)

jetcal1 said...

"Are working on creating a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants......"

Fly over country does not agree with your values.
what part of illegal don't you understand?

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Take it easy on AKUS, he is not too good with understanding of what he reads...